Downgrading to Snow Leopard

[computerdoctor]

My Mac has become so slow with Lion that I want to downgrade to snow leopard. I know I'll have to erase and reinstall and I am cloning the drive as we speak so all my files will be there. I know a few applications require reinstallation instead of just moving over to the Applications folder.

My issue is that I want to keep the browsing history and passwords for Firefox. Does anyone know where they are stored so I could just copy them over? Also how does one move a VM Fusion machine over?

[codegreen]

Originally Posted by computerdoctor

My issue is that I want to keep the browsing history and passwords for Firefox. Does anyone know where they are stored so I could just copy them over?

Try this link: Transferring Data to a New Profile - Firefox. This applies to any platform Firefox runs on.

[anonymous Mac Tech]

Originally Posted by computerdoctor

My Mac has become so slow with Lion that I want to downgrade to snow leopard. I know I'll have to erase and reinstall and I am cloning the drive as we speak so all my files will be there. I know a few applications require reinstallation instead of just moving over to the Applications folder.

My issue is that I want to keep the browsing history and passwords for Firefox. Does anyone know where they are stored so I could just copy them over? Also how does one move a VM Fusion machine over?

There is no easy answer except that you should have made a Time Machine backup with 10.6.8, a disk image, or restored to another volume while running 10.6.8 before even upgrading to Lion, then you could back track if things didn't go right (which they obviously haven't). I've never been so diligent about telling folks that since the release of 10.7. I haven't even bothered upgrading to 10.7 myself and don't see it in the foreseeable future.

Its going to be a manual rebuild of the user account now. Telling someone how to manually rebuild a user account on a forum thread is like telling someone how to do a manual virus removal over a forum thread. Most of the files you'll need are in the user library (which is hidden in 10.7) to get things going again. There are hundreds to thousands of files there and I'd have to be looking at the library files myself or essentially performing the rebuild myself to tell you which ones they are except Firefox which I believe are in Users/Username/library/application support/Firefox folder which includes your profile and most everything else.

[altrenda]

For windows we use MozBackup to backup and move Firefox and thunderbird.

For Mac, almost as good is FEBE. http://softwarebychuck.com/febe/febe.html. If everything is in the default place, it will backup your profile and let you transfer it to another machine.

[altrenda]

What I've found on several machines is that Lion performance when doing an upgrade suffers more than upgrading previous versions.

But I have found performance also is better when you create a new user instead of using the existing user account. Saves time installing software and configuration, but still is time consuming. A clean install is always preferable, though.

I would be interested if anyone else has found this to be true.

[anonymous Mac Tech]

Originally Posted by altrenda

What I've found on several machines is that Lion performance when doing an upgrade suffers more than upgrading previous versions.

But I have found performance also is better when you create a new user instead of using the existing user account. Saves time installing software and configuration, but still is time consuming. A clean install is always preferable, though.

I would be interested if anyone else has found this to be true.

A new user will be faster than an existing user to the fact that there is very little in the way of plist, preferences, caches, possible log in items that are involved with an existing user account. Essentially the user library is very small with a new user and gets bigger over time and use. It's pure common sense really. Are you surprised also that a fresh Windows install is much snappier than an existing Windows install with a bloated registry?

There are some maintenance tweaks that can be performed either manually or with third party apps to do some house cleaning. However, some user accounts are so badly screwed up that a manual rebuild is the only sure way to get rid of issues. Also, a manual rebuild done by someone experienced is completely different than just scrapping an account and starting fresh.

[sal13]

Firefox profiles are stored in ~/Library/Application support/Firefox. Back that up and when you have finished your downgrade, reinstall firefox and replace the folder it will have created with the one from Lion. You can reveal the Library folder in Lion from terminal, type chflags no hidden /Users/the name of your account/Library. Or you can just hit Command G, which brings up the Go to the folder: dialog, and type ~/Library/Application Support.

[lcoughey]

After the new install, when the system prompts you to, point to the cloned drive and bring back your profile and applications. It should work...in theory.

[anonymous Mac Tech]

Originally Posted by lcoughey

After the new install, when the system prompts you to, point to the cloned drive and bring back your profile and applications. It should work...in theory.

It won't. It will say something to the effect of you are trying to migrate to a system older than whats installed on the source. Migration Assistant will always work if you are migrating up, but never down. But of course, whats the point of leaving the ability to migrate down (in Apple's opinion)?